Jesus meets us at our point of need

March 27, 2011
Third Sunday of Lent
John 4:5-42
Jesus meets us at our point of need
Year A

One image that stands out in my mind this week is the picture of a governor in Japan drinking a glass of water to prove that everything was okay with the water, even though we all know that is not the case. I thought he must really love his country.
I can’t imagine living somewhere where the basic essence of life has been tainted by a substance that you can’t see, you can’t taste – but will eventually destroy your body.
Water is so much a part of our lives – we in America take water for granted. Water is so readily available to us- that we can afford to say that we don’t like water. Imagine if you lived in a place where water was not readily available just by turning on the faucet? We would love water, whenever we could get it, however, we could get it.

In Jesus’ time you had to go to the well everyday to get your water. It was the woman’s job to get water for the family. She usually went in the morning, so that she would not have to run into a man. It was not appropriate for men and women to be in the same places in public.

So why was the Samaritan woman at the well at noon? Why was Jesus sitting at the well by himself? Why would he be disrespectful enough to talk with a woman in public? He was single, even if he was married; he was not allowed to talk to his own wife in public, much less a stranger. And if he was a Jew, why was he talking to a Samaritan?

If Jesus us the symbol of righteousness for us, why would he be in the wrong place, at the wrong time talking to the wrong person?

He wanted to help us understand the nature of God. There are too many of us who spend our lives in the wrong place, at the wrong time, talking to the wrong people.

There are too many people out in the world, who even though it is Sunday- who are in the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong people. And they need to know that there is a man named Jesus. Jesus understands them perfectly. Jesus understands their needs perfectly.

In the book of John, there is a series of encounters of Jesus with ordinary people. Last week it was a faithful man with a genuine question – Nicodemus. Today it is a not so faithful woman, looking for water and finding so much more.
A man who knew all about her.

We tend to think of the Samaritan woman as one of the bad girls in the bible – we know her reputation. She had 5 husbands – the one she is with is not her husband. Some churches however, call her a saint. Saint Photini. Photini means one equal to the apostles. Yes, she was a woman with a reputation, but she got the chance to talk face to face with Jesus. An honor many of us dream of. Because of that encounter, she was able to go out and save others.

This passage is so long because this is the longest recorded conversation that Jesus has with anyone. Also if you look at the verses, you will see that she talks 7 times and Jesus talks 7 times. There are no happenstances in John.
Jesus tells her that she has 5 husbands and that the one she is with is not her husband. Everything in John has a double meaning. This could be a conversation about 5 husbands; it could also be a conversation about idolatry. The things in our lives that stand in the way of us having a relationship with God.
There were 5 times that the Samaritans had intermarried with other people – and diluted the purity of their worship to the one true God. The one they are living with now who is not a husband – could be Rome. There were in control of the whole region, but had no allegiance whatsoever to the people and their beliefs and values.
For the Samaritans, the thing that stood in the way of their truly loving God was their need to identify with another people. What about us? Who are our five husbands? What stands in the way of our relationship with God? Is it our career? Friends? Consumerism? Nationalism? Needs? Addictions? Desires?
Why was Jesus at the wrong place, at the wrong time, talking to the wrong person? To give you the message that whatever your soul is married to besides God, you can let go of.

And whatever it is in your life that you are committed to that has no commitment to you – you can let that go too. God is always going to be with you no matter what. If you work on your relationship with God, everything else falls into place.
Why was Jesus at the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong person?

Jesus and the Samaritan woman get into an interesting conversation about worship. Where is the proper place to do worship? That Samaritans believed this mountain, close to Jacob’s well. The Jews believed only the temple in Jerusalem was the place to worship. But Jesus says that the day is coming when worship won’t be about a time and a place, but about our relationship with God and the condition of our hearts.

This last illustration is in honor of the spring concert tonight….o worship experience.

When my son was in kindergarten, his first field trip was to the Milwaukee Zoo. I was so excited that I signed up to be a chaperone. We all had to prepare a bag lunch to take on the trip. I was so excited – it reminded me of field trips when I was a little girl. I went to the store the night before to get all of the ingredients. I prepared my lunch and put it in the brown paper bag. That morning we had a fun time at the zoo. At lunch time I was excited to talk with the boys about what we had done that day. Until I opened my bag to eat. I don’t eat cold food, I don’t eat processed food, I don’t eat white bread, I don’t eat cheap processed meat, I don’t eat store bought cookies, or hot store brand pop. I knew that when I went to the store to buy that crap in the first place. But I honestly believed in my mind that if I put that junk in a bag and carried it to the zoo – that I was going to be caught up in the moment enough to eat something that I don’t even like. I tell that story because that is how we do church.
We come to church expecting to be wowed. We leave church saying that I was not touched by anything. It did not make a difference. I didn’t like the sermon. What did you bring with you this morning in your brown paper bag? Something that you would eat- or something that you know you don’t like. Worship is a celebration of the relationship that we have with God before we get here. If we don’t bring the hot Jesus with us- we won’t find it when we get here.
Worship starts at home. Worship comes with you; worship is what you already have with God.
We need to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.
Why was Jesus at the wrong place at the wrong time talking to the wrong person – so that you can worship God will all that you are…..Let us pray…… Amen.